Summary: A hands-on look at the AliExpress puck light kit. From the small test setup I used to validate everything to the full kit’s parts, pricing, what I kept, and what went straight into the spare-parts bin.

Light Kit

This was the largest single-item cost aside from the lift rental, although it isn’t fair to call it a single item. The kit included the lights, tracks, some wiring, the power supplies, and more. Also the whole purpose of this project is the lights so… you kind of need them.

Small test kit (optional, but recommended)

Before I committed to buying the full kit (detailed below), I ordered a “mini” version of what I would need.

• I got a single string of lights and some xConnect pigtails from the same vendor that I planned to get the whole kit from.
• An inexpensive Gledopto WLED controller
• A smaller 24V PSU

Having these items allowed me to test out the exact lights that I’d be getting to verify I liked how they looked. I was also able to hold them up to my roofline to get an idea of where I would want to position them.

Having the inexpensive Gledopto controller and PSU also allowed me to easily test different sections and custom-made cables (to verify they worked) when I got to the actual install part. These items are the first example of something you could eliminate to save money, but they helped me out and I was thankful I had them. And I was able to repurpose them for other smaller projects once I was done.

Heads up: I earn a commission on the Amazon items if you click on a link and buy it.

*For those in the US: tariffs have unfortunately drastically increased the shipping cost on these.

The Full Kit

Once you’re sure you’re ready to commit, it’s time to order the entire kit. We haven’t actually discussed how I figured out how many lights I needed yet, check the planning section for details on that, but it made more sense to me to talk about total costs before we get in to all the fine details. That way you can stop here if this project is completely out of your price range.

Why this kit

• 24V means less power injections
• White track to match my soffit, but you can get any color you need (including custom colors)
• 6000K (white temp) because my wife prefers Christmas lights in a bright white, but they have 3000K if you prefer that
• 10 pucks means there are 10 pucks per meter. Going with 5 pucks is a quick way to save a good chunk of money if you prefer, but I figured “if I’m going to do it… might as well go all in.”
• Includes 2x Meanwell LRS-600-24 power supplies
• Includes 4x data boosters

What I didn’t use

There were a lot of items in this kit that I didn’t actually use (for this particular project; I am using them elsewhere). It was still less expensive to buy this kit, but I wanted to breakdown what I didn’t actually use.

• xConnect pigtails – I plenty from the tester ones I already bought, and the tester ones were longer which I found more useful.
• 100m of extension cable – I somehow missed that this was even included, but it was a pretty small gauge and I just didn’t have a use for it.
• Heat shrink tube connectors – I just generally prefer crimp connectors, but I also struggled to get these to “work” right. It could be just me and a lack of experience but the plastic jacket was starting to melt off by the time the solder was hot enough to melt. I probably could have figured out the right technique and heat gun temp, but I just went with crimp connectors.
• End caps – I needed way more than they included, and I preferred have ones that snapped in to the track rather than on/over it. I 3d printed mine.
• xConnect extensions – You don’t have to worry about voltage drop as much with 24V, but I still tried to limit the length of small gauge wire runs. Rather than using these 18 AWG 5 foot runs, I used my own higher gauge wires to make extensions in places I needed them.
• xConnect t-splitters - These are useful for power injection. They make it super easy but I only had 2 mid-run power injections anyways and connecting them directly to the lights instead of using these was easy enough for me. I am using these on my Christmas tree lights though (which is a totally separate project lol).
• Controller – I knew I would be using the Quinled Dig-Quad so I didn’t have any use for the one they included.

Kit review

• I talked with the seller over Whatsapp before buying. They were really helpful and friendly.
• It was shipped air freight and arrived within a week of me ordering!
• I had one single track that wasn’t made correctly at the factory (more on that in the install section), but everything else was great. I didn’t have any issues with any of the lights or connectors. They are extremely bright (I basically never go above 50%) and the quality is fantastic. Of course, only time will tell how they hold up.
• Some of the pucks (maybe 10% of them) had leftover glue or something on them that would sometimes make it a little difficult to insert them in the track because of the tight tolerances. Within that 10%, there were like 2 or 3 pucks that I had to actually remove the excess in order to get the puck to clip in. The vast majority it just took a tiny bit more force. None of this was a problem, but it’s still worth mentioning.

Overall I highly recommend it; I’m extremely happy with it. If I could have gotten it for less by not getting all the items that I didn’t use then that would have been nice, but like I said I’m using most of it on other projects anyways.